Break the Fall – Jennifer Iacopelli – Blog Tour

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A year ago, Audrey could barely even do a push up as she recovered from spine surgery, one that could have paralysed her. Now, she has made the United States’ gymnastics team with her best friend, Emma, just like they have dream of since they were kids.

The pressure to be perfect is higher than ever when horrible news rips the team apart. Audrey is desperate to advocate for her teammate who has been hurt by the one person the trusted the most. Will the team stay together, will they win the gold and will they even make it to the Olympics?

This is such a wonderful book that I am so glad I had the pleasure of reading. I would never normally have picked this book up because I am not the biggest fan of gymnastics, sport or the olympics but I am so glad I didn’t let them topics put me off. I flew through this book in a matter of days and I throughly enjoyed it.

This book tackles so many important topics. They are dark topics and I do want to point out a trigger warning for discussion of sexual assault. I felt this was something I needed to discuss first because books that discuss sexual assault aren’t something everyone wants to read. I do want to say though that this book is about the survivors of sexual assault and there are no graphic scenes. It discusses the rebuilding after the assault and it does this amazingly.

So, this book is about the United States’ gymnastics team going to the Tokyo Olympics! I have never read an Olympics book before this one but I want to read so many more after this one. It had detailed sections about the gymnastics routines and the challenges that the girls face daily. I don’t really know much about gymnastics but even I could visualise every routine and every challenge that the team were doing.

Audrey is of course recovering from her back injury and has shots of cortisol into her spine to keep her going and to stop the pain when she puts her body through so much. This is Audrey’s last chance at the Olympics. Even though she is only 17 she is basically having to force herself to retire after the Olympics due to the chronic pain. So, for the duration of the book I was constantly thinking will she get the medal or won’t she?

I felt like I was going through all the emotions with the team when I was reading the book, not only about them getting medals but also for them getting justice. I didn’t just feel a connection to Audrey but all the other girls too. Emma, Dani and Chelsea are all amazing.

There is also a little wonderful subplot of romance going throughout this book. It is such an adorable and sweet romance too. Leo Adams is Audrey’s new coaches son and what an angel he is. This romance doesn’t overpower the main themes of the book at all but it is such a wonderful side plot of a sweet supportive romance.

I throughly enjoyed the writing of this book and I would love to read more Jennifer Iacopelli books in the future. Jennifer has perfected the balance between gymnastic moments, friendship moments and those hard and emotional moments. It is wonderful!

Overall this is such a fun story, full of love and pain. It makes you so proud of the girls who stand together no matter what. This book tackles women empowerment, sexual assault, the #metoo movement and the Olympics and all in an amazing way. I cannot recommend this one enough!

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I am actually lucky enough to be on the blog tour for Break the Fall and I am so excited to read everyone else’s posts! Be sure to check their posts out too.

If you’d like to read this book, be sure to follow the link below!

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